Hello, I am looking into buying my cousin's car; it's an 04 G35 with 165k kilometers (roughly 102k miles) The car looks to be in really good shape and has never once left him stranded or not started. My only two concerns with the car are as follows: it has a slight ticking sound due to it requiring a valve adjustment (which makes total sense and doesn't make me too nervous) and the larger problem: it uses a bit of oil; which he said would also be fixed with the valve adjustment (think that is true?) Any sort of help would be greatly appreciated, and i am going to look at the car more extensively on Thursday so i will be sure to update more then, and hopefully be able to provide a more accurate amount of oil being used .

 

PM sent.

 

Oil consumption is not typically related to valve noise. The adjustment is a long process that involves nearly complete disassembly of the front of the motor however so it's not something that's going to be cheap if you're paying a mechanic. The actual lifter bucket is cheap though.

 

Did you have an approximate cost? He has been driving the car as is for quite some time now and had no problems, still runs good and pulls hard just has a slight ticking noise. The part that scares me most is the oil consumption as I cannot afford a full rebuild at the moment. Blue recommended to get it compression tested, so i think that is what I will do .

 

No idea on cost but probably close to $1k if you're paying to have it done.

 

No need to worry.

Oil is cheap if you check it weekly.

My previous 06 G35 6 speed used sometimes a qt per 1000 miles almost from the day it was brand new. It never passed the oil consumption test at the dealer but I did put 171796 miles on it doing 53 oil changes until I traded it in for my previous 2012 G37S

Telcoman

 

Did you just buy all of the oil your self? Another member on the forum said that they went to jiffy lube as they offered free top ups so I'm thinking it might be cheaper doing something like that. I'm hopeful that the oil consumption isn't too bad though, but i wont find out for sure until Thursday!

 

Oil should be checked prior to starting the vehicle after it has sat overnight.
Driving to Jiffy Lube is not a smart idea.
Even if they offer to top up oil for free they are going to screw you eventually.

Telcoman

 

Don't worry about either of those problems. Everyone's car ticks a little (more than likely due to use of synthetic oil), and everyone's car burns a little oil (in part to light weights and use of synthetic oil). Use a heavier (10w30-10w40) semi-syn or full conventional and both issues will likely be significantly decreased.

Everyone acts like these are Ferraris and they gotta use the most expensive synthetic they can find, but this motor was made to use conventional oil, more than likely due to the valve clearance.

 

Preach preacher preach. Can I get a hallelujah?

Great post Scraggle, thanks. Wish more people here would heed this advice.

 

Okay, thanks for the advice! I have also read this elsewhere on the forums! Is it considered bad to switch from synthetic to conventional oil though? I have heard both things. Some say there is no wrong that can be had from switching, but others say the detergents from the synthetic oil can break lose some of the sludge/ carbon buildup caused by motor oil and it can get into the moving parts and cause havoc. Care to offer your 2 cents?

 

Switching from one to the other makes no difference whatsoever. If it did then synthetic blends wouldn't exist (I use synthetic blends in the G). The detergents for both are the same, it's just a different base lubricant.

You can even blend your own custom oils if you want.

 

Hello all, so i have just gotten home from looking at the G, and the car is definitely burning a lot of oil. I started it up and a very visible amount of blue smoke was coming from the exhaust accompanied by a strong oil smell until the car was fully warmed. My cousin said that he usually goes through about a quart per gas tank, and I could tell the engine wasn't really running tip top. I think that the piston rings are not doing well at all. Any thoughts?

 

Time for a new (used) engine

 

Yeah that engine is toast, far beyond toast, it's basically the blackened remnants at the bottom of the toaster if its burning up that much oil.

An engine with a NORMAL oil consumption problem will be drinking 1-3 quarts per 3k miles depending on how hard it's driven, more than that and you need to start shopping for another motor.

1 quart per ~300 miles shouldn't even be driven on a public road because it's just a smoke machine for other drivers to choke on.